In Universes by Emet North

Book Summary

Raffi works in an observational cosmology lab, searching for dark matter and trying to hide how little they understand their own research. Every chance they get, they escape to see Britt, a queer sculptor who fascinates them for reasons they also don’t—or won’t—understand. As Raffi’s carefully constructed life begins to collapse, they become increasingly fixated on the multiverse and the idea that somewhere, there might be a universe where they mean as much to Britt as she does to them…and just like that, Raffi and Britt are thirteen years old, best friends and maybe something more.

In Universes is a mind-bending tour across parallel worlds, each an answer to the question of what life would be like if events had played out just a little differently. The universes grow increasingly strange: women fracture into hordes of animals, alien-infested bears prowl apocalyptic landscapes. But across them all, Raffi—alongside their sometimes-friends, sometimes-lovers Britt, Kay, and Graham—reaches for a life that feels authentically their own.

Raffi is looking for dark matter, but really I think she's looking for solutions to all the problems she's ever had in her life. The idea of infinite parallel worlds takes her into the possibilities of endless universes.

At the beginning if feels a bit like the rambling of someone's mind, but I related to so much of it and found it so interesting that I didn't care. However I did feel like maybe I was missing some deeper meaning. This is probably the most surreal thing I've ever read. Some chapters more so than others, in some universes everything is very normal, while in others, people turn into hordes of bees or falcons. At first I wasn't sure if it was a metaphor, but it is actually really what she says!

I can definitely relate to Raffi's bewilderment at the start of the book. The feeling that you should know what you're doing but just don't, like you've been left behind in a lesson sometime ages ago and have no idea how to catch up! I also liked how the universes are so different in some ways but usually have some thread continuing from the previous ones, people or themes. 

Some of the stories are so harrowing that I kept hoping for something happy. Some do end quite hopefully, but many... not so much. I was also waiting for something that might pull all the stories together at the end but I think it's more like a collections of essays.

To make a Parallel Universe cocktail, mix 30ml (equal measures) of rum, Cointreau and grapefruit juice in a shaker with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

I couldn't find any grapefruit juice so instead bought a red grapefruit and made some fresh juice. For that reason the cocktail is probably not quite the right colour. I also think it could do with a little sugar to sweeten it.